Bourque to wear number 27

The knock on René Bourque, per Bob McKenzie and many others, is inconsistency.
The newest Canadien is said to be a talented and effective player … when he feels like playing.
Bourque will wear the number last worn by Alex Kovalev.
Hmmmm …

662 Comments

This one’s for Berkshire, if he’s still around. And my last comment, before I might actually have to do work:

I liked what PG brought to the presser last night. He said that shots from a distance don’t go in anymore. Teams need to score goals on 2nd, 3rd chances, scrums, tips, garbage goals. That the analysis of NHL goals indicates this (Berky, what?). Cammalleri doesn’t score these types (heck he could have had one last night had he gone to the net on Subban’s shot), but BOurque does. He sounded very confident, like he had done his homework.

Getting pissed about rumors of JVR going to the leafs. When last season I heard the Habs were all over giroux or JVR and PG would not flinch and flyers wouldnt wither. Wow … giroux or JVR would have defiantly been good squid ions for the Habs. How different would this team be with one or both of those guys this year…

I think the story about this trade being in the works for a while is actually true. PG, in his interview, mentioned that things heated up around Dec 1st. So it seems to me he was going to deal Spacek and Cammi for Kaberle and Bourque around the same time. Something held up the Cammi deal, but – to me – these pieces fit. I’m inclined to take it at face value.

No doubt the Cammi rant sped things up, maybe skewed the deal for CGY in some way, but I’m still good with it. No one player can be bigger than the team, and I interpret Cammi’s rant, no matter how it was translated, is that he is self-important. Come on… “I know I’m a better player than I was 2 years ago.” Really? Then why don’t you score some time?

I am wondering if a really wise GM would have NOT pulled the trigger immediately so as NOT to look reactionary (if the deal were cooking).

How do you feel about PG not shopping Cammi?

And for some good news: I just watched a couple of Bourque fight videos, and while Chris Nilan he ain’t, the guy has stones and will definitely up the testosterone in our male hormone deprived dressing room.

If the deal was basically done, then why wait? It probably worked better for the Habs’ room that he was gone immediately – a better message to the boys.

As for not being shopped, who knows? Firstly, I don’t want my GM trading within conference, so now we’re down to 15 teams. Cammi had a list of 7 teams he wouldn’t go to, so how many teams are left now? There may have been other options and we’ll never know, but I think it’s too easy for media-talking-heads to say “he wasn’t shopped.”

How do you know that he wasn’t shopped? From the comment of one anonymous GM? There were 7 teams he could not be traded too, plus you add in few eastern teams in there that PG would not have wanted to trade him to. Also, you have to look at PG’s needs and what he wanted in return, maybe the other teams he didn’t contact did not have what he wanted, like an available forward, with size, who can score, and with a manageable cap hit.

Back 2 game ago pp for Habs ,Cammy circle fake a shoot and BLIND pass back to the d at center with both d standing again they board side ,i glad he ‘s gone AK can handle puck and passes 10 time better than Cammy and make half the money

The one thing that bugged me about the game last night was the Subban hit. I loved the hit but what followed was a bit embarrassing.

Andrew Ference immediately went after Subban and he turtled on the ice and laughed about it in the penalty box. If Subban is that afraid of Ference he’s got issues. If it was Lucic or Chara I can see anyone running for cover but Ference, come on.

I realize we scored on the PP after but by suckering other teams into penalties by diving and turtling isn’t the way to win games.

I think the league has to do something stricter regarding the retaliation crap after a clean hit. You hit a guy too hard and then you have to fight. That’s BS and needs to be addressed by the league. Yes the players can police it themselves, but it shouldn’t be necessary. The NHL never used to be like that. A clean hit was a good clean hit.

Why should PK even need to defend himself? From what I seen it was a clean hit. For all the talk of the big bad Bruins they one of the worst cry baby teams in the NHL. The play dirty but if someone tries that with them it’s a bench brawl, to me toughness isn’t about fighting, but rather playing in a chippy game without making a circus out of it. The Bruins love the circus games.

A few other “passengers” and smurfs need to go. As far as Cammy goes, when you say your team practices are for losers, you are knocking the coach directly. His comments should have been said in private to his team mates and not the media. That being said, PG needs to go next. You don’t cut a player during a game! The Habs played a very competitive game last nite and Mike could of been given a complete game to put up or shut up. He might of scored the tieing goal or winning goal. Who knows and we’ll never find out.
And PK, go take some boxing lessons for Christ sakes! You should be better than that.

It was a shot at Cammy by taking him out of the game. He is an employee and I really could care less. I would get fired if i ripped my company to the media. You have to be a team player and obviously Cammy isn’t that guy. not the first time it has been said and it won’ t be the last either I am sure

Checking out some clips of Bourque fighting. I’m liking it. There’s one of him and Nick Shultz where he throws a pretty cheap shot at Schultz and then they tangle.

I don’t want my team to be dirty like the Bruins, but it’d be nice to have a player who might cross the line every now and then to keep the other team guessing. We haven’t had that since Begin. Yemelin may be a guy like that. Bourque might be too.

When montreals pp was one of the best. Cammi was consistent. Because he stood next to the hash mark and would fire slap shots in consistently. When Montreal has had a terrible pp( ie: this season) cammi played inconsistent. When skilled players have no space they are useless. Starting to see the same with plecky. We need big bodies to open up space for little snipers. Hopefully there are a few more big bodies to come.

Look at it like this… Cammalleri put up career numbers in 2008-09, a year where was knew he was playing for a new contract. Coincidence? You be the judge.

Rather than opting to re-sign him, the Flames were in the middle of a fire sale and let their top goal scorer walk. Why? Did they feel he wouldn’t be able to replicate those numbers again? Again, you be the judge.

The Habs sign him to a very lucrative contract, paying him top team dollars (next to Gomez of course.) Since then, it’s no secret that he was a disappointment, a slow and steady decline of a supposed natural goal scorer. Meanwhile, every other player who finished on top of the scoring chart in 2008-09 has maintained their level of excellence (i.e. Vanek, Nash, Staal). Heck, even Parise has score more goals in the past 3+ seasons and he missed almost all of last year. Btw, Bourque has scored only 5 less goals in two less games.

I guess my point is perhaps we made Cammalleri out to be better than he was. Sure he had his moments of brillance, but it’s clear to me he fed off a great player like Iginla. Look at what happened to Cheechoo after he stopped playing with Thorton. Maybe he will bring his numbers up now that he’s playing with Iginla again, but I doubt he will ever come close to scoring 39 again.

In the grand scheme of things, Calgary have now put themselves in a very sticky situation. They have now committed to $3 million dollars more on their salary cap, money they potentially don’t have. Occording to Capgeek, once their team gets fully healthy, they will now have to shed $2.5 million.

“There’s genius everywhere, but until they turn pro, it’s like popcorn in the pan. Some pop… some don’t.”
– Jerry Maguire

I think if we can get a player like Kopitar at the deadline and unload some of this useless baggage of underachieving players we will have an ok group next season. However. I think price and pk need to stay in Montreal. I would hate to see a player like pk become a stud somewhere else and we unload him for nothing.

We are not getting Kopitar. Period. They have Quick, whom they love, who actually has better numbers than Price I think, and Jack Johnson, Doughty, etc. What LA need is scoring – and they would have made on offer on Cammi if they had been asked, but they weren’t.

Yesterday I saw a clip of Ron Wilson defending Dion Phaneuf in the players poll about the most overrated players in the league. Dion was the clear winner but Wilson is on video saying that he would like to have any of the top 15 on his team anyday…..ummm PG (no 3 was Gomez)….so give ol Burkie a ring would you.

Right now we have very limited scoring from the d…we are loaded just like the last 2 years with forwards who have minimal scoring abilities…nokia,darche and blunden are basically 3-4 goals a season scorers…moen is scoring this year but he really is a 8 goal season type…white is probably the same…dd looks like 12 goals ..gomez?….many teams ahead of us are loaded with prospects also…major infusion of talent needed on this team…

Lots of great D prospects but little in the cupboard for top-flight offensive players. It’s going to take some awesome drafting or an eventual dealing of some D-men for a shot at some true offensive power.

I think, eventually, our D and D prospects will be good enough to land something like this and still keep good depth on the back end.

After reflection – and a little research – I think this was a good move for the Habs. We shed salary in a season that’s going nowhere without giving up any goal production, and get bigger to boot. And even get a second round pick and prospect. This is a step in the tight direction. The Habs still need to trade more dead weight, and play the youngsters en route to getting a lottery pick.

Even if Cammy turns into a 40 goal man, the Habs were going nowhere with him. Cammy was right about the culture of losing though, and this is something that needs to change.

__________________________
☞ “Talent is a gift from God, but you only succeed with hard work. Yvan was proof of that.” – Jean Beliveau. ☜

Cammalleri was never going to be a 40 goal man with the Habs. He’d score 50 next to Crosby. We never had the player to play with him, and frankly I don’t want a guy like Cammi who needs a specific type of player to make him better. He doesn’t make anyone better. If he’s not scoring, he’s worthless.

Living in Calgary, I can tell you that people here are VERY happy about this trade…and i don’t blame them. They still remember Cammy as the 39 goal scorer who Darryl Sutter let get away. But it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out. For me, the real judgement for this deal will be next season. Calgary has again mortgaged some of their future (draft pick, prospect) for the present. It’s very possible, however, that Cammy is not going to be what he was, even being back in Calgary and playing with Iginla. And if Calgary and Cammy continue their downward trends, Montreal will have made out like bandits. And i think the fans here may not be as happy as they are this morning. Either way, when i look at this trade and remove my heart from the equation, I think it’s a good deal for the Habs, and possibly good for both teams. At the same time, I wish Cammy the best, and thank him for that magical month in 2010 where we was EVERY BIT as responsible as Halak for the best moments this franchise has produced in almost two decades. (so sad)

rene bourques inconsistant ? perfect !! he;ll blend it nicely with the rest of the habs!! oh wait most are no shows, inconsistants an upgrade !! bourque speaks no french while holland does,ok.its a PURE SALARY DUMP to get money to sign price and subban, smart.now its become entertaiment to watch the implosion.

PG seems to make these quick decisions and jump the gun. The biggest problems with the Habs are size. (which he is trying to address…I guess) and HIM. If I were Mr.Molson My first off season move would be to hire a GM with some class.

The problem with this guy is that he is currently serving a 5 game suspension (after serving a 2 game earlier this year), so if he so much as passes gas in the wrong direction then he’s going buh-bye for a while. That and the fact that players and refs will be watching him can limit his effectiveness.

Good to get bigger though. Can he fight at all or is just just a cheap shot artist?

I have read a lot of people talk about how bad Gauthier is, and how he needs to be fired ASAP etc…

That got me thinking…is Gauthier really THAT bad? I actually think Gainey made the biggest probs with this team.

Gauthier added Cole, traded Halak and opted to take Eller, keep Price, he broke the routine of never signing guys mid season by signing Gorges to what I think is a good deal, fired Martin and didn’t give a damn about replacing him with an Anglophone, and this latest trade saw him shed lots of salary, add someone bigger & tougher who can still produce, along with a 2nd round pick, and the 9th leading scorer in the WHL… Other than the Kaberle trade…and the Markov signing that may turn out bad…I think he has been pretty good to be honest. Remember that Gainey was the man that got rid of McDonagh for Gomez etc…
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Newfoundland’s biggest Habs fan. Hands down.

Things like firing an assistant coach 2 hours before a game, firing the head coach the day of a game and then throwing Cunneyworth to the wolves, trading a player in the middle of a game, apologizing for appointing Cunneyworth head coach and further throwing him uner the bus, you know, things like that…

Yea I think he has done a pretty good job with what he’s had. Kaberle has 9 points in 14 games so I don’t think we can say that’s a bad deal yet and when he made the Markov signing it was expected he would start season so it didn’t look as bad at the time it happened.

I think the biggest criticism is not WHAT he’s done but HOW he’s done. The game day firings and trades are pretty bad form.

Yeah I can see how it doesn’t look good on him. Add the fact that all the sports networks turn every Montreal story into a negative. With that said though, it is hard during the season to fire a coach when it isn’t a game day or practice day. As for the trade, I hear something interesting on TSN990 this morning. One of the guys said it looked like by waiting until the 2nd intermission, they killed enough time so that Bourque could be added to the lineup when their game started. This meant he would have served one of his remaining 2 games of his suspension. Once that was done and taken care of, Cammy was hauled out of the dressing room.

poor Pleks…the least they could do is call up Palushaj or Leblanc to play with him and Gomez. I can see it now …Gomez doing slalom laps around the rink, Blunden doing full ice sprints and crashing into the boards to stop at each end and Pleks somewhere in the middle of the rink clicking his heels together saying “there’s no place like home, there’s no pace like home”

i wonder if this means it will be Pleks,Gomez and Bourque…or does uit mean Pleks -Bourque and Blunden when REne arrives

I’m sitting here on my lunch listening to hockey central at noon. I have to say Nick Kyrios (or however u spell it) is the WORST hockey analyst. He is up there with stock and milbury. He was saying bourque doesn’t speak french so fans won’t be happy. He is not coming in to coach the team. He is just the biggest idiot. He was basically telling us exactly what cammy was saying and what he meant. How does he have ANY clue what cammy was thinking, god can’t stand him. And of course like every other toronto media who hates habs (TSN) say flames won the trade, I dunno about that. Cammy won’t find his ganme in calgary, cause he was dismal in mtl.

i don’t have an issue with the details of the trade or shipping cammy out, what has me a bit concerned is hearing a gm yesterday say “if i had known cammy was on the trading block i would of made an offer”… basically we might of gotten a better deal… but we’ll never know i guess.

I try not to view things in rose colored glasses and I don’t think everything Montreal does is great, like a lot of people on this site.

Gauthier has sucked huge, by failing to make the right moves in the summer, acquiring Campoli, his handling of Pearn and Martin and then the idiotic move to get Kaberle.

But I see no issues with the Bourque trade at all. Cammalleri does absolutely nothing for Montreal five on five. Nothing!

We’ve seen spurts of good five on five play this year when Cole, Pacioretty or Kostitsyn go in or the forecheck and retrieve the puck, but not nearly enough.

Now we have four big wingers who can score 20-30 goals each. Enough to put two offensive lines out there with size and grit.

If the Canadiens somehow managed to rid themselves of Gomez over the summer and acquire a legit number one center, they’d have a heck of a club!

Now that will be a very tall task. I’d be shocked if Gomez wasn’t gone by next September. But number one centers don’t grow on trees, that will be the hard part…..

Next year if Montreal adds that centerman I’m talking about and a menacing defenseman to replace Gill, we could really be right back into the thick of things.

But I don’t want knee jerk reactions and we don’t have to spend up to the cap next year just for the sake of spending up to the cap. I’d be cool with sitting $10 to $15 under the cap all year next year if there was nothing good available.

OK it has been about 14 hours since THE TRADE.
Boy last night was really something !!
The first reactions were incredable almost everybody calling Gauthier a liar because he said that this had been in the works since last month. Funny how nobody called Jay Fiester a liar for saying the same thing and I’m not just talking about the fans I mean Kyprios, McLean and MacKenzie (last night) too.
Most were saying panic move, Gauthier got fleeced, fire sale is on.

Now my perspective. Because we Canadiens fans tend to make gods of our heroes Cammi was put on a pedestal but REALLY lets look at a comparison.
Age between Cammelari and Bourque is the same
GOAL production over the last 4 years basically the same
Assists slight edge to Cammelari
Cap hit BIG advantage with Bourque (2.7 mil ) we can use that for Carey.
Size and grit no comparison edge to Bourque.
Playoff production Big edge to Mike however Bourque has not been in the post season since 08-09.

I see this trade as beneficial to both teams Mike will be reunited with Iggy and will prosper like Leclair did with Lindros, and Rene will come here and score 25-30 goal a year and be put on a pedestal also.

You know, the longer you look at this, the more you have to give Gauthier props. I think Feaster got thoroughly shagged. The topline details all favour the Habs: same goal output over 2-3 years, more size and grit, upgraded draft pick (in 2013, so don’t count yer chickens on how high it will be) and almost $3 million in cap savings. Flames probably got the better prospect, but our goalie situation makes that a moot point.

But look closer and it gets better. At least half of Cammalleri’s goals came on the one-timer off a pass through the slot. When was the last time you saw one of those? The guy was a one-trick pony. Beautiful trick, that it was. But the problem is that teams figure one-trick ponies out and, in this case, can fairly easily neutralize them. Every time Pleks tried to go to Commalleri, he was covered. Think about it. Block that lane and Cammalleri becomes a very expensive, dimunitive.. meh.

It’s a lot harder to neutralize a player like Bourque. No, he doesn’t bring the flair or on-ice charisma that Cammalleri has, but what he has is a) something the Habs sorely need, and, b) far more difficult to counteract.

Tentatively, I put this move in the same league as the Cole pick-up. And given the circus environment in which it was made, I think it calls for major kudos.

I like this trade because Bourque compliments our current line-up better than Cammalleri did. Cammy needs play-makers to give him that great one-timer pass, or to be creative in the offensive zone, players who think the game like he does. Cammy playing dump and chase was like watching a Ferrari trying to plow a field; watching him with Blunden last night was just sad and a huge waste of both players’ skill-set. He never found the right chemistry in Montreal, or when he did, JM would break up the line in an attempt to create secondary scoring, or because it was too weak defensively.

If they play him with Iginla, he should have more success in Calgary. But if they make the same mistake and put him in on the second line, we will see more of the same from him.

Can’t wait to see how Bourque looks in the Habs’ lineup. The one game suspension might actually be a blessing because he can spend one game in the press box learning about his new line-mates and RC’s system.

I hope Gomez is next on the chopping block. I think we should move DD weber and Gomez next. DD is playing “ok”. Not a bad time to move him. And weber is a bum an so is Gomez. Pull the trigger PG. maybe during a shift this time. Rather then in between periods.

I agree. Unless hes part of a blockbuster that brings us a serious player (not that I think Gauthier is any way, shape, or form capable of making that type of deal), I dont see any reason to trade him. Seeing as our wingers just got bigger, that works to DD’s favor.

As a life-long Hab fan I didn’t need to watch tv or read the blogs to know what people/experts were saying about the trade, “Montreal knee-jerk, lost the trade, etc” IMHO Cammy is the better player and on that alone Calgary wins. BUT the $3 mill savings lets them sign Price who is way more valuable than Cammy, so I look at it this way. Cammy and whoever to Calgary for Price, Bourque, and 2 whoevers. Now we win the trade. Easy-Peasy.

Good point. That old logic of the team who gets the best player wins the deal isnt pertinent to todays NHL. Look at boston. They traded joe Thornton, but by trading him, and not investing $7M in a perennial playoff choke artist, they were able to sign Chara down the road. Seeing as boston won a cup with chara wearing the C and jumbo joe hasnt won squat, chalk up a win for the bruins on that one!

So cammy scores 39 goals in Calgary and they don’t re-sign him. Montreal gives him and huge contract expecting 39 from him. He doesn’t live up too expectations and now Calgary trades for him back… On the contract they didn’t want to give him… When he is not producing like he was… We win

If inconsistency is the key word to describe Bourque then what`s the one describing Cammi ?
I think that we were attracted to his potential but it never really materialize except 2 years ago in the playoffs. As much as we say that the playoff is the only season we did go and get Cammi for his 30 to 40 goals a year wich we never got.
We all know that the NHL is all about $$$ and on that aspect the trade makes sense for the Habs .Like it or not Bourque has comparable stats for half the money.

Well you need to make the playoffs first… And this year Cammies 9 goals wouldn’t take the habs to the playoffs. I don’t care if Cammy scores 50 goals in the playoffs. If he can’t score and get us into the playoffs in the regular season what good is he.

One way to look at the trade is this – Bourque CAN’T be more worthless (and I am not even talking per dollar amount) than Cammalleri. He just can’t. The only person who can and is, is currently injured.

Do the majority of Montreal fans like this trade? Calgary got the better player. Montreal got a little cap space and got rid of someone who called out their teammates. It just goes to there being no leadership in the dressing room, insufficient talent on the ice and little foresight in the boardroom.

Habs got the better overall player in my opinion. We don’t sacrifice anything close to significant in scoring. We add a player who knows what forechecking and bodychecks are and also got a 2nd round pick and prospect.

up side. We got a guy who scored as many goals as cammi for half price with size to boot.
down side we lost a potential 40 goal scorer who never reached that potential here except for the playoffs.
yeah we lost a playoff performer, but it doesn’t matter if we don’t one the playoffs.
win win. Calgary is in the west. So don’t worry about how well he does there, cause he didn’t do it in the reg season here.

We got a big bodied winger with a mean streak, whos good for 25-30 goals a year. His only problem is inconsistency.

Now, we have another winger who is good for 25-30 but struggles with consistency: AK46. If cunneyworth can manage to get Bourque hot when AK is cold, and AK hot when bourque is cold, it could work out quite well 😀

A little late to the party, so sorry if I’m repeating a lot of what is said.

I live in Calgary and people are very happy to have him back here. Not sure where this “bad attitude” rap came from or if it’s true, but certainly here he was/is a fan favourite. My guess is he’ll do better in Calgary.

That said, it’s clear that he wasn’t going to do it in Montreal. Forget this year, just look at his numbers in total. Decidedly average. Bourque is a streaky player as well, but he does have size. I’ve watched him a lot and always liked him and the way he plays. And my guess is that he’ll have one of his hot streaks right off the bat. He’ll look mighty fine on a wing with Plekanec.

So in my mind, this is a win-win trade, but we got the better draft pick. The prospects are a wash — even if Rammo makes it on the Flames, he wasn’t going to do anything but maybe be Price’s backup here. Holland probably won’t play in the NHL, but then again, maybe he’ll be a good depth guy down the road. Better odds of that, then Rammo doing anything significant for Montreal with Carey around.

Calgary needed a sniper, the got one. We needed a crashing winger we got one. Both players are streaky, one has a higher ceiling, the other can crash and bang. We saved 3 million and got a second rounder. All in all, not a bad deal by PG, whom I’m not a fan of, but have to call ’em as I see ’em.

I don’t think there is a bad attitude. But a guy making 6 mil a year, who can score 40 goals (if only in his mind) and became a hero in the playoffs. He is competitive and egotistical. No problems from what I see. 90 percent of athletes out there.

I see a lot of hate directed towards this trade from, who else?, the TOR media..TSN, SN,etc…

I just wanna know when is the last time that the Habs actually made a deal they liked? lol

Typical Hab hate..All it is..

I also was watching TV this morning and seeing the reviews of this trade by the panels on each network and all they showed was what CGY is getting..CGY is getting a proven scorer, CGY is getting a clutch sniper, blah blah blah..

What about what the other team is getting? All they said about Bourque is that he is inconsistent and likes to take games off..WTF? He has more goals than Cammy..lol

It’s funny. Last week I read about a dozen posts where people complained that Cammy looks disinterested out there. Cheering for Kovy was how we got him interested to play here. C’mon guys, let’s cheer for Bourque too!

I seem to be in the minority, but I love this trade. No matter what Cammy’s production is going to be, it wasn’t going to be anything in Montreal. I also was more frustrated watching him forecheck and almost touch the other team’s player, before swinging around and leaving the zone. I like that Borque is bigger, and cheaper, and has similar numbers over the last several years as Cammy. I think it also frees up enough money to sign Price (makes 2.5 now, saving around 3, he’ll get 5 or so) and opens up a spot for Ghallager. As for the other spare parts, trading a 5th rounder for a 2nd rounder is an obvious upgrade, and Ramo wouldn’t have come to Montreal to play 10 games a season anyway.

what is wrong with you people wanting to get rid of AK – one of the better players we have – Gio and Gomez – yes make a good trade for them – some one who is tough and can score – not AK – I would want someone coming back that is a whole lot better.

Trying to listen to TSN 990… I’ve heard college radio done better. Across the board, from the on-air ‘talent’, to the production values, it sounds like a bunch of hacks that we’re just pulled off the street.

This Dee needs to be addressed to. Gill and Campoli are good as gone. Kaberle needs to be traded. Still leaves Weber, Diaz, Gorges, Emelin, Subban and Markov(broken). If this is the 6 Man Dee next year, then next season will be worse than this one. Habs need a Tough SOB on Dee. We can also discuss the C’s on this team …

because IMO he makes too much money for what he does and he’s redundant. Diaz can do what he does. We need grit and toughness on dee. As is, the Dee is soft, add Kabs and its even softer. The only way it makes sense to me is if there is an admission Markov’s knee is done and he’s retiring, otherwise, that trade was completely illogical.

I see Kaberle and Markov as redundant if both around….(but we have no faith in Markov being healthy anymore)…but Kaberle is light years ahead of DIaz. Diaz/Weber are the same IMO and it would be redundant to have both again….at least on the ice…one in the perssbox or on the fourth when we are hruting who can play pp isn;t so bad

i just dont see Kaberle being that strong defensively. offensively he’s almost on par with Markov, but Markov plays a much better all round game. IMO, i would even go as far as saying that defensively between Diaz and Kabs .. toss up. If there is no healthy Markov next season, this team is in big trouble again.

jb – Why trade Kaberle? Because right now Cunneyworth has to employ 7Dmen because Kaberle/Gill/ Campoli can’t play regular minutes. Kaberle came in here and within ten games was pushed down the depth chart by two rookies.

PS – The time to have signed Sutton was a few years ago. Right now, he’s the whipping boy of Shanahan. The NHL is gunning for this guy, big time.

Weber, Diaz and St. Denis in Hamilton should be moved. If I could trade those 3 for 1 stay at home hitting Dman who is over 6′ and 215lbs, I definitely would pull the trigger. Need more Dmen that can clear the front of the net.

someone mentioned Gleason , who is interesting. Another interesting, Big, Mean and kinda crazy DMan who I would pursue, and who I would have pursued earlier ( but the Habs wont because he isnt their type of player ) is Andy Sutton.

We need a tough stay at home type that can drop em like a Carkner, Mcquaid, etc. Even if this is a 7th dman …with injury tere will be plenty fo time to go around. I would target Tim Gleason in the offseason if we do unload Gomez.

A top six of Markov/Kaberle-Emelin
Subban-Gorges
Diaz/Gleason
Keep Kaberle in case Markov goes down…Diaz can fill in for either of them…if Markov proves healthy trade him next deadline. I would also give ol Paul Mara(or someone like him) a shout and ask him if he mindseating some hot dogs and occasionally playing some hockey.

If this team went out and rid themselves of Gomez…signed Jarrett Stoll and Tim Gleason. Markov is healthy……we would be looking pretty good. For toughness we would have Gleason, White, Mara(or whoever), Moen, Blunden for phsyically punsihingplayers AK, Emelin, Cole, Bourque, PAtches (if he isn’t afraid to get susp’d or hurt someone as he seems rattled since he put Letang on IR).

These guys would give the smaller skilled guys a little more room out there and give Price a little protection too.

Thinking of an alternate universe: I wonder what kind of season we would be having had Markov been healthy from the start of the season. The fire sale has started. I don’t like this trade. You make trades when values are high, not low. And in this case, the lowest. Why not wait until the trade deadline where some teams are desperate?

“It’s a moo point. Like a cow’s opinion, it doesn’t matter. It’s moo.”

I thought it was interesting to hear PG say that we obviously need more size. This was a topic which the combo of PG/JM the last couple years seemed almost adamant to deny. That is a step in the right direction. We saw them making those changes in who they drafted, and now we are seeing those changes in trades.

Perhaps we “lost” the trade in terms of which team immediately gets a better player, but Cammy was no longer a better player on this team. We simply had too many guys his size in our lineup.

And end of the day, we got Cammy as an UFA, therefore we gained Bourque, a prospect and a 2nd round pick for a free agent. I know that doesn’t mean alot, but it isn’t like he is a former 1st round pick of ours that we discard.

I really like what you said here. We all seem to forget that in this league, you can pick up Cammalleri type guys as free agents, because there’s only so many teams that have 6 million dollars and a spot on the top 3 available. We didn’t draft him. We couldn’t use him anymore cause he wasn’t producing. We got someone back who can do at least as much as he was the past 2 years, AND we opened up some room do do some work in the offseason. This is how the business of hockey is done these days.

Gerald – I love your last paragraph – I thought the same thing last night.

We signed Cammy without losing any assets (except cap space). This is in direct contrast to the Gomez “signing” where we gave up McDonagh.

I don’t think there’s any doubt we lost the trade in terms of the ‘best player team’ wins the transaction. However, Ramo was never going to return to the NHL to be a back-up. So Ramo (smart move on Calgary’s part) for Holland is basically a trade-off for Ramo. It was understood that Cammy was better than Bourque hence the difference in picks (2nd & 5th). You also have to factor that we were dealing from a position of weakness which also pertains to the imbalance of the trade. Some people don’t buy into cap space as being an asset, but the 2.7M will help out down the road.

As for your 1st rounder comment, it will be a loss (asset wise) if AK46 flies the coop. I’ve been all over him from day one, but Feb 27th is going to be a moment of truth in terms of his value to the team.

One of the benefits of the trade should be pp time for Eller. He didn’t get a sniff and Cammy was always on the first wave. PG is (rightfully) obsessed with getting the pp going and part of the problem was that given Cammy’s tenure it would have been very disruptive for RC to take away his pp time in favour of Eller, who has been playing better for the last month. We don’t have to worry about that now.

I think it’s a good trade because I believe Cammy wasn’t happy here anymore. Unhappy players don’t perform.
It’s nice that we are starting to get bigger( Cole, Patches, Kostitsyn, Eller and now Bourque) and I just hope Bourque is happy.

Bobcat Bob
There are so many good things in this trade:
1) A good,big,tough scorer is acquired
2) He saves us 3 million dollars in cap space
3) The minor league player Holland is ripping it up scoring wise and he has some size
4) A 2nd round pick (which will be a fairly high one)
5) We get rid of a self-serving one dimensional player who did not
want to play for us and was probably a cancer in the room, he certainly was on the ice.
6) We had no use for Ramo and only gave up a 5th round pick
7) Assuming we dump Gomez even more cap space becomes
available
8) We can easily sign Price,PK,AK etc
9) We have the money to go after Parise or Weber perhaps both

This is an enormously great trade by the ” Goat” but I still see
no one giving him any credit?????

NO more moves need to be made ,except replacing a few spare
parts with somewhat better journeymen.

The trade aside, one of the things that disturbs me the most as a lifelong Hab fan is the total lack of class that has been displayed by the organization during the past few years. This goes all the way back to Gainey firing Carbo.

Cammalleri may have been way off base with his comments, but the way the trade was handled was very sad. I am firmly under the impression that Mr. Gauthier is a first class dick.

The honour and tradition of the Habs is strictly in the past tense these days.

The Habs have always taken the high road and done things a certain way. There were two options, either sit Cammy for the game (which has been done in the past) knowing a deal is about to go down, or move him today.

I understand the worry over injury, but sitting the guy on the bench and then removing him with five minutes to go is total bush league. Especially on national television.

Let’s assume we did not shed ANY of the bigger contracts…NONE of them. Let’s then assume that we keep AK and Moen (could go either way)but drop Gill and Campoli (both done IMO). BGl buyout off the books.

Now this means we keep Gomez at 7.35 and both kaberle and Markov…and all of our dmen give raise to all of the RFA’s and keep our UFA’s

It all adds up to 64.175 and under the cap. That is assuming we kept all of those guys…including Gomez. We have room and I don;t think I am too far off on the RFA’s…….

There are more moves to come but we are NOT in the cap trouble as many believe…..the Cammi trade definitely helps make that possible and opens the door for Gomez to play himself back onto the team??? who knows but that would create a logjam up the middle and mean someone would have to go…but if they move Gomez like most expect…whether it be overseas, a trade or bury him …there is at on of room for upgrades….if instead they move Kaberle or even Ak…there is still room. I also have Moen at 2 million but I don’t know if the Habs will give him that.

There is room for movement and if they drop Gomez….and one or even two of the similar dmen (or maybe Markov never palys …yikes…but possible). then we have a ton of money to shore up the wign spot on Ellerand Ak’s line, have a better 4th line and still have room to add a tougher dman to the mix…….tons of options and PG knows it and the trade makes fiscal sense although it is tough to digest froma father of two huge Cammi fans.

Bourque has the reputation of running hot and cold yet still is able to score 27 goals during the past two seasons. With his honeymoon period in Montreal, he should be able to do the same this year.

He can play both sides which is a benefit although LW is (and will be) our greatest need. He can flatline in the defensive zone but then again Cammaleri was next to useless in his own end. Cammy had the skill set to be a gunslinger, as well as being a PP threat. That’s a loss no matter how you try to rationalize it out. Maybe Bourque will be able to park in front of the net (just like Cole did on Weber’s goal last night) and take on a different role in terms of scoring chances.

This next point goes totally against my grain and the way I feel hockey should be played. However, it is quite apparent that the league has no real inkling to clean up the game. With that in mind, Bourque’s ability to play with a screw loose will come in handy. He’s a headhunter and a cheap shot artist who carries his stick high. He’ll come in handy when we play Boston and Philly.

I’m still not convinced that this trade signifies that the Habs are into a total rebuild mode. Bourque is all about the here and now.

This deal certainly wasn’t done with the intent of a rebuild in mind but it did net the team a 2nd rounder and a decent prospect.

I agree about the screw loose mentality. Lapierre’s craziness helped a little bit here and there. Some opposing players seemed to be afraid to take liberties because they didn’t want something to happen to them when their backs were turned.

I think the 2nd rounder has merit. Some decent players come out of that round. It’s in 2013, so any player wouldn’t be able to help the Habs until around 2017. But it’s still an asset.

Hardly anyone on this site has ever heard of Patrick Holland. I follow the game as a hobby as a retiree and had to take five minutes last night to find out who he was. Some people even mixed him up with Peter Holland (a 1st rounder). Regardless, it doesn’t appear that he’s a decent prospect (like a Kristo). Although Bob Mckenzie says the jury of scouts are divided on that point. Speaking of points, Holland’s stats in junior this year look great. Just keep in mind that he is 20 years old. That makes it a tougher comparison. He also plays RW, our deepest prospect position up front. Not to mention that he weighs under 180 lbs. Sounds like he’s a long shot.

The good points are 1) The Habs FINALLY realize that they need to drive to the net to score goals . Really, NOW, they realize this ? 2) This is a clear admission they are out of a playoff hunt no matter what PG says. You dont trade a goal scorer in the middle of a game you are trailing by 1 goal when you desperately need the 2 points. 3) full rebuilds arent necessary in the NHL (see Philly and Fla.) , but sometimes you have to reLOAD ( a Roger Clemens line and Habs better continue reloading.

Cammy, this year, was not an offensive threat, nor was he a threat over the first two periods. A distraction… possibly. Did they remove the guy that would have probably scored the tying goal? Probably not.

i am not a big Weber fan. I think he’s a marginal NHL Dman >> PP Specialist. I hope our team next year doesnt have Kabs, Weber, Markov(broken), Diaz as the 4 man Dee crew. Talk about Small and Soft. Yes, there is Gorges, who plays a big mans game, but still, not a massive DMan. More changes required inc. trading weber AND Kabs. PLEASE.

He is young….if he were 25 like Diaz or Emelin I think he would be better defensively….he was rushed and is just missing little things that hold it all together. When Gorges was his age he was a regular pressboxer who I never thought would make it…..lot sof time for weber..not sure there is a plce here given our d makeup but he will be an NHL dman and have a good long career IMO

well, we agree to disagree. IMO , he’s very soft, plays a terrible positional game for a small guy ( unlike Gorges on both points ), make poor decisions with the puck ( which I agree should improve with experience ) , and all in all, will be a PP Specialist. He’s a;sp been passed by both Emelin AND Diaz, and we agree, there is no fit on this team for him.

maybe it’ll rekindle the ghosts of the Big M…I like the trade .we gain 5 inches ( wouldn’t we all like that haha) and 30 lbs and 3 million bucks/year ! It’ll be interesting how Cammy does with a gritty hard nosed team like the Flames…. I wish him well …maybe not to well